Rent-A-Center charged me for rent on a TV when it was in the shop ripoff Cleveland Ohio

I rented a living room set and wide-screen TV two years ago this past November and a recliner this past July. What I'm upset about is I've had the TV in the shop twice for the same problem (the on/off switch wouldn't work). The first time it was in for a week. The second time, I assumed it would be in for a week, also; therefore, I declined a replacement (the replacement they gave me last time was a piece of junk).

This time, the TV was in the shop for about 2-1/2 months, during which time I was paying rent on it. I didn't say anything because at the time, I had hoped to one day buy the TV.

My financial situation has changed, and I fell one payment behind. They started hounding me after a week (I always paid biweekly). I explained my circumstances, but they still hounded me. I finally told them to come and get the furniture because I just couldn't make the payment. He said he would call me back. When he did, he told me I only owed $10 for the living room furniture, and then it was paid off. I said I could do that and then asked how much my biweekly payments would be for the TV and recliner. He said $93. I said I could probably handle that. I agreed to come in and pay off the living room furniture and make a payment on the TV and recliner.

When I got to the office, he rang up the total of $93. When I asked him if I was to get something stating I now owned the living room set, he said he forgot about that. He re-did everything, gave me my money back and told me he needed to ring them up separately. He took the $10 and rang that up. Then he said, "Ok, it's only going to be $63 now that the living room set is paid off." I said great.

This past Saturday (a week after I made the payment), I got a phone call from them stating I needed to come in and make a payment that day. I told him I had made a payment the past Saturday and didn't get paid again until Friday and that they knew that, that I had been paying biweekly since I started renting the furniture from them two years ago. He said I had only paid for a week the Saturday before. I said no, I always pay biweekly, I have been doing that for two years and never made a weekly payment. He argued that it wasn't hard to figure out that it was only for one week. He said I should know what my usual payment was and why didn't I speak up when I made the payment? I said I thought they knew what they were doing and that no, I didn't know what my payments would be because I had just paid off the living room set, and they had changed the payments. I was told originally it would be $93 every two weeks, which is what they were going to charge me when I went in until I told him I wanted to pay the living room set off, at which point he charged me $10 to pay off the living room set and $63 for my payment on the TV and recliner.

He said, "We have been more than generous with you. When you couldn't come up with a payment, we bent over backwards to help you out." I told him first of all, when they started hounding me, I wasn't even one payment behind, just one week, and that I did come in and make the payment the following week, so how was I behind?

Anyway, he said I really don't know where the confusion is. What's so hard to understand? at which point I started getting irate. I told him just to come and take the television set but that I wanted to be reimbursed for the rental payments I had made on it when it was in the shop for 2-1/2 months. He said unfortunately, they don't refund rental amounts and that actually that was going towards the purchase of the television. I said I at no time told them I was planning on buying the television and that since I am returning it, I expect to be reimbursed for the money I paid them for a TV when I in fact had no TV from them.

I filed a report with the BBB, also. They said they have forwarded a copy of my complaint to the company. Rent-a-Center called this morning again and asked what time I would be in today to make my payment? (Are they deaf AND dumb?). I told them to come and get it, that, once again, I am not going to be making any more payments on it. He said he would have the manager call me back (the one I talked to Saturday). So as of now, I am waiting on their call.

Dionne
Fairview Park, Ohio
U.S.A.

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